Lawyer: Cop had no gun

Detective pleads not guilty; family gains order of protection

Updated 9:49 pm, Friday, April 19, 2013

Schenectady police officer John Hotaling walks into Glenville Town Court to be arraigned on two counts of misdemeanor menacing on Friday April 19, 2013 in Albany. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Schenectady police officer John Hotaling walks into Glenville Town...

Schenectady police officer John Hotaling walks into Glenville Town Court to be arraigned on two counts of misdemeanor menacing on Friday April 19, 2013 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Schenectady police officer John Hotaling walks into Glenville Town...

John J. Hotaling, 45, of Glenville (Glenville Police Department)

John J. Hotaling, 45, of Glenville (Glenville Police Department)

Schenectady police officer John Hotaling walks into Glenville Town Court to be arraigned on two counts of misdemeanor menacing on Friday April 19, 2013 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union archive)

John Hotaling, the Schenectady police detective accused of pointing a gun at motorists in another vehicle, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment late Friday afternoon.

His attorney said he never brandished the weapon at all.

"A weapon was not on his person at the time of this alleged incident," Hotaling's lawyer, Andrew Safranko, said after the brief appearance in Glenville Town Court.

Hotaling, a 19-year veteran of the force, was in court two days after he was charged with misdemeanor menacing for pointing his service weapon at two motorists in a road rage episode at about 3 p.m. Sunday, April 7, on Maple Avenue. He was off duty, returning to his home in Glenville in his pickup truck after work, officials said.

Hotaling, 45, a detective in the department's youth aid bureau, is free without bail. He did not speak at the appearance; Safranko entered the not guilty plea on Hotaling's behalf.

"There are some things you don't get used to and having a gun in your face is one of them," he said. Matthew Arnow, Jeffrey's son, was the car's third passenger.

The Arnows want Hotaling fired. He was placed on unpaid leave Wednesday, pending the outcome of a departmental probe by the Schenectady police department.

Town Justice Paul Davenport ordered Hotaling to surrender a shotgun, the only firearm Safranko said he still had at home. Hotaling has already surrendered his service weapon after the Schenectady police put him on leave.

Davenport also issued an order of protection for Hotaling to avoid contact with two of the family members. The arraignment, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was moved up due to the family's request for the order.

Authorities said Hotaling was driving behind the other car, that was either driving slowly or erratically, when he drove around it by crossing the double yellow lines. When the two vehicles stopped at a red light, Hotaling got out of his pickup and confronted the others, police said.

Hotaling returned to his truck, got his gun, walked back to the car carrying the teen and the Arnows and pointed the weapon at two of the three people inside, authorities said.